Helmuth Möhwald (January 19, 1946 in Goldenöls – March 27, 2018) was a German physicist and founding director of the Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

. His research focus on molecular interfaces, ultrathin films, coated colloids and capsules, membranes, and nanostructured and functional interfaces.

Education and career

Möhwald was born in Goldenöls in present-day Zlatá Olešnice in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. He studied physics at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

, where he received his PhD in 1974 under the supervision of

Erich Sackmann Erich Sackmann (born 26 November 1934) is a German experimental physicist and a pioneer of biophysics in Europe. Career Sackmann obtained his MSc (1961) and PhD (1964) degrees from the University of Stuttgart in the group of Theodor Förster. H ...

. He then habilitated at the

University of Ulm Ulm University (german: Universität Ulm) is a public university in Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1967 and focuses on natural sciences, medicine, engineering sciences, mathematics, economics and computer sci ...

. After his stay as a postdoc (1974/75) at IBM San Jose, he became a research assistant (1975-1978) at the

and research associate (1978-1981) at Dornier Flugzeugwerke. He also became C3 professor for physics (1981-1987) at the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Establis ...

and C4 professor for physical chemistry (1987-1993) at the

University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (german: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. With approximately 32,000 stud ...

. From 1993 to 2014, Möhwald was a scientific member and director at the

Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces The Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (German: ''Max-Planck-Institut für Kolloid- und Grenzflächenforschung'') is located in Potsdam-Golm Science Park in Golm, Potsdam, Germany. It was founded in 1990 as a successor of the Institu ...

in Potsdam. With his retirement on February 1, 2014, the Interfaces department was closed. He was then active as emeritus and consultant in the Biomaterials department at the institute. He has also been an honorary professor at the

University of Potsdam The University of Potsdam is a public university in Potsdam, capital of the state of Brandenburg, Germany. It is mainly situated across three campuses in the city. Some faculty buildings are part of the New Palace of Sanssouci which is known ...

(since 1995),

Zhejiang University Zhejiang University, abbreviated as ZJU or Zheda and formerly romanized as Chekiang University, is a national public research university based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. It is a member of the prestigious C9 League and is selected into the n ...

in Hangzhou (since 2001),

Fudan University Fudan University () is a national public research university in Shanghai, China. Fudan is a member of the C9 League, Project 985, Project 211, and the Double First Class University identified by the Ministry of Education of China. It is als ...

in Shanghai (since 2004), Soochow University in Sozuou (since 2011) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2006). Since 2011 he was a member of the

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of Humanities, Letters, Law, and Sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europea ...

. He was also Chairman of the Colloid Society (2003-2007) and President of the European Colloid and Interface Society (2002-2003).

Honors and awards

His awards include the Physics Prize of the German Society for Physics (1978), the Liesegang Prize (1998), membership in the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Overbeek Gold Medal of the European Colloid and Interface Society (2007), the

Gay-Lussac–Humboldt Prize The Gay-Lussac–Humboldt Prize is German–French science prize. It was created in 1981 by French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt based on the recommendation of the German and French research ministries. ...

(2007), an honorary doctorate from the

University of Montpellier The University of Montpellier (french: Université de Montpellier) is a public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the oldest universities in the wor ...

(2008), the Wolfgang Ostwald Prize (2009), the Langmuir Lectureship Award from the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...

(2014), and the Elyuhar-Goldschmidt Award from the Königlich Spanish Society of Chemistry. The "IACIS Lifetime Achievement Award 2018" for his lifetime achievement by the International Association of Colloids and Interface Researchers could only be awarded to him posthumously at the annual conference in Rotterdam in May 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Möhwald, Helmuth 1946 births 2018 deaths German physicists Members of Academia Europaea Corresponding Members of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Max Planck Society people Academic staff of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Academic staff of the University of Potsdam 21st-century German physicists 20th-century German physicists Max Planck Institute directors University of Göttingen alumni Academic staff of the Technical University of Munich German Bohemian people People from Trutnov District